


By Moonlight

by Seren_Maris



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers S.P.D.
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Vampire, M/M, Slash, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-10-31
Updated: 2012-05-18
Packaged: 2017-10-25 03:09:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/271076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seren_Maris/pseuds/Seren_Maris
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sky's darkest secret comes to light, drawing Bridge into a hidden world of intrigue, murder and madness. Vampire!fic, Bridge/Sky slash.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_By day each soul must walk within its shadow._

 _Only night can make us whole again._

— Nicholas Gordon

 

 **By Moonlight**

Chapter 1

 

It was raining in huge, slow drops that painted the pavement with a glittering sheen, washing away the dust and grime of the city.

A young woman lay sprawled on the pavement, a broken doll staring out of empty brown eyes. If there had been blood, the rain had long since washed it away. The only remaining evidence was the two matching red punctures on the side of her neck.

The police officer reached over and closed her eyes, brushing a sodden strand of brown hair out of her face.

"I have a daughter around her age," he said to no one in particular. This was the worst part of his job: knowing that they had arrived too late.

"The chief won't like this," his partner said. Water ran in rivulets down his coat, dripping off the brim of his hat in a cold, steady stream. "This is the third one this month. Same type, same marks. Wanna bet the cause of death is the same?"

The first cop got to his feet. "I don't believe in vampires and neither should you."

"I never said I did. But aliens? Now that's a different story."

"Don't say that anywhere the chief can hear it. He's coming up for re-election and he wants S.P.D. nowhere near this case."

Neither saw the shadowy figure crouched on the rooftop. Sky Tate, B-squad blue ranger, turned away and silently faded into the night.

\---

He knew he was different.

Bridge was the oddity, the strange one. He noticed things that nobody else could — or would. He noticed how sad Kat was when she looked at B-squad, and most especially when she saw Sky.

He noticed how Cruger often seemed lost in thought, his mind wandering to distant planets and terrible battles against someone named Gruumm. The name reeked of fire and metal and Terror, and even though the data-links said otherwise, the Commander thought Gruumm was alive and wondered if, one day, he would bring war to Earth.

There was a connection there, between Kat’s sadness and Cruger’s dread, but it was so tenuous, Bridge could never quite put his finger on it.

Secrets.

Everyone had them, even his friends.

Especially his friends. This was the seventh time — since he started counting — that Sky had left Headquarters and failed to return by curfew. Sky was out wandering the forbidden streets of Newtech city, but the blue ranger never got into trouble and always seemed to return in time to fight the latest giant robot. Or avian bank robber. Or...

Bridge poked his head in the rec room. Jack was alone, watching the last moments of a popular comedy show. The credits rolled as the clock ticked one minute closer to lights out.

“Can I ask you a question?” Bridge ventured.

He liked Jack. Jack was good-natured and easy-going. He had strong feelings about friendship and loyalty, even if he felt a bit ambivalent toward responsibility. He said what he meant and meant what he said.

“Sure,” Jack replied. “Ask away.”

“Let’s say that you like someone, but you don’t know how to tell…” Bridge caught himself just in time, “…them. What would you do?”

“Well, it depends who she is.” Jack paused. “It is Syd? Z? That girl from D-squad? Please tell me it’s not Kat. I mean, she’s hot for an 120-year-old, but…”

“No! It’s not Kat,” Bridge hurried to say. “Or Syd. Or Z.”

“Is it someone at S.P.D?”

“Well…” Bridge was a bad liar. Jack knew it, too.

“Look, if I were you, I would just tell her. I mean, what’s the worst thing that can happen? She’s not interested.” Jack shrugged. “Too bad, there are other girls.”

“Thanks,” Bridge said, his mind already racing. “I might do that.”

Jack turned off the television before reaching for the lights. Then he turned back to Bridge. “One more thing. Don’t get caught.”

That was another complication. Fraternization between cadets was against regulations, and everyone knew how loyal Sky was to regulations.

Except that Sky was out after curfew, and everyone was wrong.

Sky was nothing like his name, Bridge decided. He was more like the ocean, full of deep eddies and hidden dark chasms. The cool, indifferent surface was only the beginning.

‘Just tell him.’ If only things were that simple.

\---

Bridge was avoiding him.

At first, Sky thought it was his imagination, but now he was certain. Bridge rarely spoke more than a sentence in his presence, and took great pains to avoid being alone with him. That was no easy task, considering they were required to work, live and train together.

Bridge didn’t seem angry or frightened. In fact, Sky had a strange feeling that Bridge was trying to tell him something.

He had given up trying to corner Bridge two days ago. Bridge would tell him, eventually, but only when he was ready. Whenever that might be.

\---

Exactly one week later, a pair of familiar, shuffling footsteps stopped outside at his door. There was a long pause, and then a hesitant knock.

“Come in,” Sky said. A clap of thunder sounded in the distance. Rain drops tapped out a sharp staccato against the glass.

Bridge slipped inside, and put his back against the door.

“I wanted…" the green ranger took a bracing breath before continuing, "I wanted to ask if you'd like to go out with me sometime."

Sky blinked. He couldn’t possibly mean… “Bridge, I go out with you every day.”

“No, not like that,” Bridge said. “On a date.”

Sky backed away until his palms hit the edge of the desk. The familiar hunger rose up in him like a wild thing. The world narrowed until there was only Bridge — Bridge, vulnerable and so human that Sky could lose himself in the way he smelled, the way he moved, the pulse of blood just beneath his skin…

“It — it isn't you," Sky stammered. "I'm flattered, really, but...” he gestured vaguely above his head, “it won't work. I — I can’t…”

Bridge stepped closer, and Sky suddenly couldn’t remember what he meant to say.

“Yes, you can,” Bridge said. “No one has to know.” They were now inches away. “I’m an empath, Sky. I know you want me.”

And then there was the kiss. It was warm and deep, and tasted like smoke and the salt of the ocean. It tasted like night and the storm.

It tasted like copper.


	2. Chapter 2

The first thing he felt was a heartbeat — his heart — racing like he had just run a marathon. His uniform shirt clung to his damp, clammy skin. The entire room reeked of emotion, an invisible afterimage of fear.

 He didn't remember falling asleep. How had he wound up in someone else's bed? Bridge tried to retrace his steps. He had trained with D-squad after dinner. Later, he had come to the dorms to speak with Sky. What happened next was hazy. In fact, he couldn't remember anything after…

 "That must have been one serious kiss."

 The wave of regret and deep, gut-wrenching guilt that emanated from Sky struck him like a physical blow. Bridge blacked out for a moment and, when he woke, the blue ranger was standing beside the bed, watching him with shadowed eyes.

 "I'm sorry," Sky said softly. There was anguish there, in his voice, a hidden abyss of suffering. His face was pale and his hands trembled as he spoke.

Bridge realized that the other ranger had been crying. But why? Surely not over him.

 "What happened?" Bridge asked. His mouth was parched, and there was a strange, sharp flavor on his tongue. He forced himself to sit up, even though every muscle screamed in protest.

He felt different, somehow. Something had changed, and not just about Sky. Something terrible had happened during that dark, empty span between the kiss and when he woke.

 "I -- I bit you," Sky confessed. "After that... I had to turn you. You would have died. But maybe... maybe that would have been easier." The blue ranger grimaced in disgust and looked away. "I should have controlled myself."

 Bitten? Turned? He understood the words but not their meaning. Their entire conversation was disturbing and surreal. Bridge realized that he had been subconsciously rubbing his neck. He looked down at his gloved hand. His fingertips glistened with something dark and wet, and there was a matching red stain where he had lain on the bed.

 Bridge closed his eyes tight and willed the room to stop spinning. "I don't understand," he whispered.

 "You're a vampire." Sky told him. "We both are, now."

 "Vampires are just a myth," Bridge said.

 "The stories are just stories, but the disease is real. It came from off-world a few years back, and…" Sky trailed off, and Bridge realized he was once again on the verge of tears. "There's no cure," he choked out.

 Sky was telling the truth, or at least what he believed to be true. That meant Sky was even crazier than he was. Vampires? Alien disease conspiracies? Bridge rose to unsteady feet and inched toward the door.

 "Uh... I really should go. I mean, I shouldn't have come here in the first place, and..."

 One moment, Sky was standing beside the bed, and the next he was blocking the door. He moved so fast that Bridge only saw a grey blur. "You're not going anywhere," Sky growled. And then he bared his teeth.

 Bridge sat down slowly. Sky had fangs -- white, sharp canines -- and he had never noticed a thing. Sky was a vampire: a real, in-the-flesh monster come to life from horror stories, and now he was one too.

 Everything he knew about vampires came from movies and books. Did real vampires sleep in a coffins, drink blood and avoid holy places? Could they turn into bats? Were they really immortal? He had always been more than human. What was he now… something more, or something less?

 He settled on what seemed to be the safest question. "So what now?"

 "We have to tell Cruger," Sky steeled his jaw and met Bridge's eyes. "There was one rule, and I broke it. If we're lucky, we'll be expelled. Both of us. We're too dangerous to have around. I proved that, just now."

"And if we're unlucky…?"

 "We get sent to some top-secret lab to be tortured and experimented on," Sky said bluntly./

"The Commander wouldn't let them do that to us."

 Before today, he would have been able to say that with confidence, but now everything he thought he knew -- about himself, his team and his friends -- was on shaky ground. He hadn't known about vampires. He hadn't known that he could break someone with a single kiss.

 Before today, he hadn't known that Sky could cry.

 "He won't have a choice. Do you know how bad it'll look for him and S.P.D. once people find out that he had two vampires as power rangers?"

 "Then we won't tell them. Not Cruger or anyone else," Bridge decided. If Sky could keep their vampirism a secret, so could he. "No one has to know except for us."

 Sky was already shaking his head. "It's bad enough what I did to you. What if it happens again? What if you hurt someone — how will you feel if you turn Z or Syd or Jack into a vampire?"

 "I won't." He could never intentionally hurt any of his friends, no matter what kind of creature he had become.

"There's no way of knowing what you'll do," Sky countered. He rose to his feet and began to pace. "The situation was different for me. Kat helped. She set aside a blood supply in the infirmary, but that won't be an option for you."

Sky thought he was weak. They all did. The other rangers had no idea what he had been through. They had no idea hard he had fought just to be here and relatively sane.

It was true that his powers were rarely useful in battle. He was lousy at unarmed combat, his swordsmanship was only adequate and his marksmanship was unremarkable. When Cruger and Kat spoke about his place on the team, they used soft terms like "heart" and "balance". His shortcomings remained mostly unsaid, if only because nobody had to say them. That was the worst thing about being a psychic: he already knew.

"There has to be another way," Bridge said, determined. "Look, if I hurt someone, I'll tell the Commander myself, but I shouldn't be punished for something I might never do. I may be a vampire," he added, "but I still know right from wrong."

Sky considered that for a long moment. "We'll see," he said darkly.

\---

Bridge teetered on the edge of the windowsill, gripping the ledge with his hands. The fall was dizzying, a ten-story drop to the ground below. Sky was waiting on the wet grass far below.

"Come on," Sky called up to him. "Just jump. It's easy."

He had known for weeks that Sky sneaked out at night, but had never given much thought to how. He just assumed that Sky left through a door, like a normal person.

It wasn't safe to assume things about Sky.

"Easy," Bridge muttered. "Right." He leaned forward and let himself fall. There was a disorientating moment of weightlessness. The ground approached quickly, and he braced himself for a bone-crushing impact. Instead, it was soft, as if he had jumped only feet. He had somehow landed in a perfect crouch.

"As a vampire, you're faster, stronger and more agile than any human," Sky explained. "Especially when training with the others, you'll have to hold back at all times so no one notices."

He set off at a run, looking back to make sure Bridge was following. Every time Bridge caught up, Sky would dash ahead until the surroundings blurred into a patchwork of dark greens and browns and blues.

They stopped at the gates of Newtech City Park. S.P.D. Headquarters was now far in the distance, barely visible on the horizon. They had traveled several miles in only minutes. Bridge was barely winded. To Sky, it was effortless.

"Your senses will be sharper. All of them. You'll also be able to see in the dark."

Bridge looked -- really looked -- and saw the night as never before. It wasn't black, like he had always thought. Instead, it was a glorious, majestic blue. A thin sliver of the moon hung suspended in a midnight ocean. The stars glittered, cold and unreachable, down on the sleepless city. He saw everything, every leaf on every tree, every blade of grass illuminated in perfect detail.

"So should I be watching out for garlic, holy water, those kinds of things?" Bridge asked absently, as he watched a feathery cloud caress the moon.

"No, but you're not immortal. You age much more slowly than normal, but you will eventually die... and you can be killed. Fire is our greatest weakness. That said, a stake in the heart will kill anyone, human or vampire."

A small group of young people, nearly the same age as themselves, staggered past, laughing and shouting. A tiny brunette in a tinier mini skirt snagged a high heel on crack and fell, scraping her knee on the pavement.

Bridge watched, oddly detached, as she clutched her knee and dissolved into hiccuping sobs. There was blood. He could smell it, taste it. He heard the rush of blood in her veins, a faint music like a rippling stream. It called him.

He was so close. He could lead her away and then, once they were alone, sink his teeth into the warm, welcoming flesh…

"This was a bad idea," Sky murmured. His voice snapped Bridge out of his trance.

When Bridge looked over at Sky, the other ranger was watching him with a mixture of pity and horror. Sky was also disappointed in him, a realization that made Bridge flush with shame.

"I — I'm sorry." Bridge stammered. He tore his gaze away from the girl. What was he thinking? Bridge shivered, disturbed by his reaction. The Hunger had been so powerful, so blinding. A moment ago, it had felt like a beast was wearing his skin, a feral and bloodthirsty animal with no human remorse.

Sky had tried to warn him, maybe even protect him. Sky understood, but he only sighed. "We have to find you food, and fast."

He led Bridge past shuttered storefronts and silent offices. The streets became emptier and darker. They walked through a gaggle of smokers standing outside a doorway before turning down an alleyway.

Bridge gagged and covered his nose as the smell of rotting food and urine overwhelmed him. And that crumpled, reeking heap against the wall... was that a person? He shot a glance at Sky, but the other ranger seemed undisturbed by their surroundings. Sky walked with purpose and the kind of confidence that only came from familiarity. Sky had been here before, Bridge realized -- maybe many times.

He followed Sky up a rusted service ladder to the rooftop. The blue ranger knelt by a trapdoor and produced a paperclip and tiny screwdriver from his jacket. As Bridge watched, he silently picked the lock. Bridge was once again reminded that he knew very little about the real Sky.

"How did you do it?" Bridge asked softly. "All those years, pretending to be someone you weren't?"

"It was hard," Sky said. He sounded sad and tired. "Harder than you can imagine. But I never lied to you — or the others. Being a vampire... it's a part of me. Maybe a big part, but I try not let it define who I am."

They climbed down into a hallway, lit an eerie red color by emergency lights. The air was stale and had a strange, sterile smell.

"What is this place?"

"Blood bank," Sky said. "Less security than the hospital, and better than the alternatives."

Bridge tried not to think about what those alternatives might be. The blue ranger stopped at a heavy metal door. As it opened, Bridge was hit by a blast of icy air.

He followed Sky into a large walk-in refrigerator, shelves stacked high with plastic pouches of crimson blood. Sky picked one off the top of the stack. He glanced at the label before replacing it with another and tossing the blood bag to Bridge.

Bridge stared down at the pint of blood in his hands. "So I'm just supposed to... drink this?"

"Unless you want to attack and kill random people?" Sky countered. "Yes."

After a moment of hesitation, Bridge opened the bag, raised it to his lips, and took a cautious sip. He had to force himself to swallow. It tasted of plastic and antiseptic cleaners. It bitter like poison, like rotting meat. It was disgusting.

"I know, it tastes bad," Sky said. He looked a little apologetic. "It has something to do with how they process it. We're supposed to eat whole blood, but this at least should take the edge off."

Sky was right. As he drank, the slight shaking of his hands disappeared. He felt stronger, steadier. The unnatural Hunger -- once overwhelming in its power -- faded to a dull throb in his chest.

"So that was basically skim milk," Bridge commented, as he finished. "For vampires."

"Yeah, I guess it is," Sky said. The edges of his mouth quirked into a smile, and Bridge realized that he would do anything to see that it again.

"Won't they notice that their blood keeps going missing?" he asked.

"One or two bags? Not likely. And even if they do, they'll probably assume someone lost it. Not very many people steal blood, obviously."

"How many people like us are there?"

"I know of around thirty in the city. But vampires tend to keep their status secret, so…"

"So there's no real way of knowing." Bridge pondered that information as they left the way they had come. Sky dumped the empty blood bag in a trash can several blocks away.

It was now that strange moment between dawn and night, when even the earliest risers and the most dedicated night owls were asleep. The horizon glowed in dim bands of red and orange, and there was a rare stillness to the city.

As they walked a long, circuitous route back to S.P.D, Bridge tried to imagine vampires of all species wandering the galaxy. Maybe they should have a vampire planet… but then what would they eat? Other planets probably wouldn't be very generous toward a vampire colony.

He wondered if he would still be able to eat toast. Eating only blood seemed like a boring diet.

He nearly collided with Sky as the other ranger suddenly stopped. A woman lay sprawled on the sidewalk in front of them, her face pale and motionless in death. A shadow was crouched above her, their face hidden by a hooded cloak. Bridge felt a chill of evil as the dark figure rose.


	3. Chapter 3

The cloaked figure was tiny: an alien, or perhaps a child. Sharp, gleaming eyes regarded them from deep within the cavernous hood. There was an overwhelming aura of wrongness surrounding the figure, evil entwined with insanity, a sickness of the soul. Sky took a step forward and the shadow melted back into the darkness with unnatural stealth and speed.

The person — if it was a person — was long gone. Bridge hurried forward and crouched beside the victim. She was young, maybe even younger than himself. Long, dark hair pooled beneath her on the sidewalk. There were two deep, round punctures on her neck.

His hand rose to his own neck, where a matching bite marred his skin.

“Can’t you save her… turn her?” Bridge asked. He somehow already knew that it was too late. She was dead and nothing could bring her back. Now that he thought about it, there was something unusual about the girl. It took him a moment to realize what it was.

She looked just like Z.

Bridge stumbled away from the corpse. For the first time, the reality of his situation began to sink in. He was now a vampire, and his primal nature called him to murder and kill. He had assumed that all vampires were like Sky, determined to fight against their instincts and protect innocent lives. How could he have been so naive?

“This — this is horrible,” Bridge choked out. Bile rose in his throat and he fought back the urge to vomit. “That vampire... do you know them?”

“No,” Sky said. The usual emotionless mask remained in place, but Bridge sensed that the other ranger knew far more than he was letting on. He said so.

“She isn’t the first victim,” Sky admitted with some reluctance. “There’s been a string of killings around Newtech city recently, all like this. The city police are investigating,” he added in a neutral tone.

“The city police?” If vampires were involved, they were far out of their league. “Why haven’t we heard about this at S.P.D.?”

Sky shrugged. “Out of our jurisdiction. No proof that aliens are involved.”

“Only vampires!”

“The police don’t know that... yet.” And Sky was doing his best to ensure they never would. Bridge ‘heard’ that thought loud and clear. It was better if the police thought the murderer was a crazy cultist or some goth-vampire wannabe. If people knew that vampires were real, there would be widespread panic. Nobody would bother distinguishing good, law-abiding vampires and the evil ones.

Sky knew their only safety was in obscurity. That was true, but…

“We can’t just let more people die. We have to stop the killer,” Bridge said. It was their duty as law enforcement, and besides, it was the right thing to do. Even though they were also vampires. Maybe because they were vampires.

“I’ve been trying to track them down,” Sky said, “but they’re cunning and fast. You saw that today.” He prided himself on his ability to capture criminals, but this one had managed to stay ahead of him at every turn. “Let’s go. The killer won’t be back, so there’s no point sticking around here.”

“We’re just going to leave her?” It didn’t seem right to abandon her, even if she was already dead.

“We can’t do anything to help her,” Sky pointed out, “and if anyone sees us here, we’ll be murder suspects. After that, it won’t take long for Cruger to put two and two together.”

\---

Even Sky couldn’t climb back up to his window, so they slipped in through an emergency door at Headquarters— Bridge noticed that the security alarm had been disabled at some point before — and crept back toward the dorms. With their enhanced hearing and vision, it was easy enough to avoid the night guards.

"You do this every night?" Bridge asked, once they were safely back in the room. “When do you sleep?" He didn’t feel tired. He could easily have stayed awake into the next day.

"That's another advantage of being a vampire," Sky said. "We don't have to sleep much. But you should try to get an hour or so, at least."

It seemed there were a lot of advantages to being a vampire. Now, if only it didn’t turn people into bloodthirsty monsters… “Next time you go out, I want to go with you.”

“No, it’s too dangerous.” Sky set his jaw in a stubborn line, and Bridge watched as a shadow of fear crossed his face. “You could get hurt.”

“I risk my life every day at S.P.D.,” Bridge argued. “How is this any different?”

“You just got your powers. Hunting after a vampire of unknown age and power…” Sky trailed off. “It’s just too risky.”

“I can’t just do nothing while innocent people are dying.” Sky knew that already. “I accept the risk.”

“And what happens when you get hurt, or worse? How will you explain that to Cruger?” Sky asked, following a brief but strained silence. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with here. That’s how you got into this situation in the first place.”

“ _You_ turned _me_ ,” Bridge reminded him. “You put me in this situation and, like it or not, we’re in this together. I’ll be careful. I know how to keep a secret.” He paused. “You don’t believe me?”

“You’re very… honest and open.” Sky was trying to be tactful, but his mind read ‘flighty and gullible’ instead.

Only Sky could twist honesty into a weakness.

“I’m not as clueless as you think,” Bridge said, stung. His hand was already on the door when he turned back. “You know what your problem is, Sky? You always expect the worst from people.”

He could tell that Sky wanted to disagree. He wanted to deny it, but they both knew the truth. “Bridge, wait. I know you.”

“Maybe,” Bridge admitted. His voice was wistful and sad. “But I’m not sure I know you.” He closed the door silently behind him.

\---

The next day dawned clear and cold. The grass under his feet was dusted with frost, and each breath froze in the icy air. Bridge shifted on his feet and angled his sword for a third strike. The morning sun glinted off the blade of his practice sword.

 _Clank!_

Sky easily blocked the blow. "Remember what I said," he whispered, leaning in close when their swords crossed once more. “Be careful.”

A moment later, the Commander ordered them to change partners. Sky paired up with Syd, and Bridge was chosen to spar with Cruger.

It was a good thing, Bridge realized, that vampires healed quickly. The deep bite marks on his neck had faded to the faintest bruise. So far nobody, not even Cruger, had noticed anything different about him.

As he sparred with Cruger, he made a conscious effort to slow down his reaction times. He pressed forward only when he saw an obvious opening, and parried only the blows that were easy to block. After a minute or so, Bridge allowed the Commander to disarm him by a hair. He bent to retrieve his sword.

“Good work, Bridge,” Cruger said. “Your sword work is definitely improving.”

“Thank you, sir,” Bridge said. He ignored Sky’s warning look. “I guess today is just a good day.”

\---

Bridge hurried through the breakfast line, putting a small piece of everything on his plate: pancakes and egg separated by a sausage divider, bacon strips balanced precariously on top of buttered toast.

Syd and Z were already there, seated at a table near the door. Z was munching on cereal while reading a datapad, while Syd pushed her breakfast around on the plate and eyed a hash brown like it might strike her down. Bridge sat down beside them.

“Hey, Bridge,” Z said, while Syd muttered a greeting. The pink ranger had never been a morning person. “What’s up?”

“Nothing much,” Bridge said. He took a cautious bite of pancake before grimacing and setting it aside. Sky hadn’t mentioned that vampirism would also affect his sense of taste.

Z was watching him with curious eyes. “I thought you liked pancakes.”

“I did! I mean, I do,” Bridge hurried to add. It was a shame. He really used to like pancakes. At least the toast still tasted fine. “Maybe today is just an off day in the kitchen or something.”

Z shrugged. “Everything tasted fine to me.” She scraped the last spoonful from her bowl. “Well, I better go. I told Jack I’d meet him at after breakfast.”

Bridge glanced at the clock. Was it really seven thirty? And, come to think of it, Sky usually ate with them for breakfast. Did that mean Sky was avoiding him? Bridge didn’t know whether to be amused or annoyed.

Syd echoed his own thoughts. “Where’s Sky?”

“Who knows? Probably still practicing or studying or maybe…” Was that cadet at the next table batting her eyelashes at him? Bridge blushed and looked away. He stared at his plate for a long minute before chancing another look. She was doing it again!

“I think you have an admirer,” Syd said, amused.

"Yeah, I guess, maybe?” He had to admit — she was cute and that flirty half-smile _was_ very distracting. Her name was Chloe, Bridge remembered. Much like Sky, she was an award-winning sharpshooter and an expert martial artist.

“Definitely,” Syd said, confirming what he already knew. The girl practically leaked love-struck admiration. “So are you going to ask her out?"

“No, there’s… " He caught himself before mentioning that there was someone else, because maybe there wasn’t. It was hard to tell. "Besides, it's against regulations."

Syd looked disappointed. The pink ranger was an enthusiastic matchmaker, and the slightest hint of a crush on his part would result in dozens of carefully contrived “random” encounters.

“You’ve been hanging around Sky too much,” Syd said. She picked up her tray to leave. “Loosen up, Bridge. The way I remember it, you used to be fun."

That left him alone at the table and more than one pair of eyes strayed his direction. It seemed Chloe wasn’t the only one with a newfound romantic interest in him. Bridge tried to finish his toast, feeling increasingly uncomfortable. An entire table of female cadets in the corner was staring at him and gossiping to each other. Even some of the male cadets were watching him with a disconcerting mixture of envy and lust. What was going on? All of a sudden, he was no longer hungry.

The corridor was less crowded, but the emotions he sensed from the other cadets were still overwhelming. Maybe he should hide in his room until everyone came to their senses. That would be the sensible thing to do, but maybe Syd was right.

Maybe he was taking this much too seriously.

The first person who approached him was a lanky but attractive junior researcher in the exo-genetics labs. Bridge relaxed and allowed himself to flirt with the scientist. It was easy, all too easy, to fall into the rhythm of casual banter.

They were talking about one of Kat’s new inventions when the scientist cut off mid-sentence and stared over his shoulder, a look on his face between trepidation and terror. Bridge turned and saw Sky striding toward them. The blue ranger radiated fury.

"You have somewhere else to be," Sky told the man from between clenched teeth. "Right now."

The scientist was taller than Sky, but he seemed to shrink under the blue ranger's glare. He cast a quick glance at Bridge before fleeing.

"We were just talking!" Bridge objected. "I didn't... I wasn't..." He turned the direction the other man had gone, but Sky grabbed his arm.

"Yes, you were," Sky said. "You made a promise to be careful.”

Through the physical contact they shared, Bridge sensed a wave of jealousy and possessiveness from Sky. He snatched his arm away, furious at the other ranger.

"I don't belong to you,” Bridge nearly growled. Their argument was attracting a crowd. He spun on his heel and stomped away.

Cadets whispered as he passed. A group of new trainees, their uniform boots still stiff and shiny, looked scandalized. He had just created enough gossip to feed the rumor mill for the week. Maybe even the month.

He reached his room and threw himself on the bed. He buried his head in his hands and forced himself to take deep, calming breaths. It had taken him years to learn control over his powers, and it was never perfect. But now things were harder, and he felt his control slipping under the emotional strain.

He closed his eyes and settled into the meditation techniques he had been taught, willing himself to let go of the turmoil in his mind. He was interrupted by a knock at the door.

“Come in,” Bridge said. He already knew who it was.

Sky entered the room and stopped across from Bridge.  He shifted on his feet and hesitated, as if searching for the words.

“I shouldn’t have done that,” Sky said softly. “You have a right to talk to whoever you want. I just have to learn to trust you.”

Trust, Bridge knew, was something that came reluctantly to Sky, if at all. He stared at the other ranger. “Are you trying to apologize?”

Sky stiffened. “No, I’m trying to explain. I... never mind. I’ll just go.”

"No, don’t.” Bridge sighed. “I wasn’t thinking. I just wanted... I don’t know."

He hugged his knees to his chest. It felt good flirting with the scientist, pretending that he could be a normal person with normal relationships, even if it was only for a little while. Even if it was just a fantasy.

Sky looked at him with something that might have been pity. “Normal humans are naturally attracted to us, but some people are more vulnerable to the charm than others. You’ll learn to suppress the power over time, like I did.”

Bridge chewed at his lower lip. That explained a lot, but… “Did you ever use it on me?”

Sky returned his gaze to the floor. “Not on purpose. But you’re different... your powers... I might have…”

“No, I know what I felt,” Bridge said. “Does it work on other vampires?”

“No, but…”

“Then it was real, because I still feel the same way.” It went against all logic and reason, but who said love would be logical? “About you,” Bridge clarified. “About us.”

Sky was shaking his head. “There is no us. There never was.”

“Really?” Heavy sarcasm crept into his voice. Sky was an accomplished liar, but nobody could fake such deep emotions. “So you turn everyone you kiss into vampires?”

“No, just you,” Sky said. “You tempted me, and I made a mistake. It was instinct, nothing more.”

Instinct.

It was such a small word to hide behind.

“What are you so scared of, Sky? That everyone might find out about your dark secret? That you might hurt your friends? Because it’s too late for that.”

No, Bridge realized, Sky was afraid — terrified, even — of something else. Something far closer. “You’re afraid of me?”

“I don’t know who I am around you,” Sky confessed, “and I don’t know what this… attraction… is. But it’s dangerous. For both of us.”

“So you’re just going to ignore me?” Bridge asked, an incredulous edge to his voice. What kind of solution was that?

“What do you want me to do? This never would have happened if you hadn’t thrown yourself at me…”

Sky was trying to make him angry, to push him away. It was working.

“You wanted it. You wanted me!”

“And you flirt with everything that moves,” Sky retorted. “I saw plenty of that earlier.” He crossed his arms and pressed his lips into a tight line. “I suppose I found out today what everybody else already knew.”

“I’m an empath,” Bridge bit out. He knew the rumors, but he never expected one of his own teammates to believe them. “That doesn’t make me a slut.”

He realized that his fists were clenched tight at his sides. He wanted to wound Sky, to mark him in the same ways he had been marked. But he couldn’t — not now, not like this.

“I never thought I’d say this about anyone,” Bridge said at last, his voice an icy whisper, “but maybe you deserve to be alone.”

Surprise. Guilt. Sorrow. Sky was hurt, and the texture of his pain was foreign, unfamiliar and deeply satisfying. Bridge turned away and steeled his heart against regret. He didn’t want Sky to know much those words hurt him, too. 


	4. Chapter 4

“You know, that’s against seven different regulations,” Sky said. He didn’t look up from his datapad. “You’re supposed to knock.”

Syd strode across the room and snatched the datapad from his hands. The pink ranger glared down at him. “I don’t care about regulations. And if you weren’t hiding in here, I wouldn’t have to…”

“I’m not hiding,” Sky said. It sounded sullen, even to his ears. “If that’s all you have to say, you can leave now.”

“Not a chance.” Syd crossed her arms. Her eyes narrowed to suspicious blue slits. “What did you do to Bridge?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t play innocent,” Syd warned, brandishing the stolen datapad like a weapon. “Both of you have been moping around like kicked puppies, and not just today. Something happened.”

Sky frowned and leaned back in his chair. “Nothing happened. We kissed. There was a misunderstanding.” That, Sky decided, was the understatement of the century. “That was it.”

Syd poked him in the chest, hard enough to leave a bruise. “I’m only going to say this once, Sky. Bridge deserves to be with someone who can care about him.”

“And I can’t?” Sky asked, insulted.

“Not in that way,” Syd said bluntly. “Not since Dru.”

“This has nothing to do with Dru.” Sky suppressed a shiver, remembering dark moments he had tried hard to forget.

“This has everything to do with Dru. You changed after he was expelled, and not for the the better.” Syd ticked off his failings on his fingers. “You’re cold, closed-off and distrustful. You’re not ready to love anyone, especially not Bridge.”

Sky didn’t bother to disagree. “It’s just infatuation. He’ll get over it.”

“Are you really that oblivious? Bridge is head-over-heels crazy for you. This isn’t just a casual crush!”

“If you say so,” Sky said and scoffed. “Let me guess, this is the part where you tell me that if I break his heart, you’ll beat me into the ground.”

“No,” Syd said, her voice low and dangerous, “because that’s not an if, but a when. Bridge is an empath and you’re an… emotional cripple!”

Sky crossed his arms. “So what do you want me to do about it? I can’t change how Bridge feels.”

“Uh-huh. Did you ever stop to think there might be a good reason that Bridge wears gloves?”

Sure, but so what? Bridge’s powers were more of an inconvenience than anything else. Anyone could read emotions: all it took was paying close attention to tone and body language. For Bridge it just happened to be involuntary.

“Syd, you’re overreacting. You’re making it sound like I… tore his gloves off and ravished him!” Which was uncomfortably close to the truth. “It was just a kiss. Besides, Bridge came onto me, not the other way around.”

Syd sighed. “I don’t know if you can’t understand, or if you just won’t. I guess it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you,” she poked him again, “are going to stay away from Bridge. Next time you see Bridge, you’re going to apologize to him and tell him that he deserves better. And then you’re going to leave him alone.”

“Is that an order or a suggestion?”

Syd spared him one final glare. “This isn’t a game, Sky. I’m serious… dead serious.” With that warning, Syd turned on her heel and stalked from the room. The door snapped shut behind her.

Syd was a cunning and fearsome enemy. Her foes often found themselves posted on isolated asteroids, or transferred to barren lunar outposts, and those were the lucky ones. If he disobeyed her on this, there would be serious consequences.

But then he thought about Bridge. About the kiss. Bridge was so bright and vibrant and alive. Bridge drew him like a moth to the flame, as a human and now as a vampire, even when the green ranger was flushed with anger and hated the sight of him.

Did he want to leave him alone?

—

The hunger crept up on him slowly.

For the first two days, Bridge could almost convince himself that he was still human. He made a conscious effort to avoid attention and blend in with his surroundings. All but his most lovestruck suitors turned their attention to other pursuits. He could now walk between the showers and his room without being openly stared at.

He ate regular meals in the dining hall, usually with Z or Boom. Sometimes all of B-squad would eat together. Jack and Z usually sat next to each other on one side of the table, leaving Syd awkwardly sandwiched between Sky and Bridge on the other side. He wasn’t ready for another confrontation and neither, it seemed, was Sky. They only spoke to each other when necessary. The rest of the team were tiptoeing around them, which left Bridge plenty of time to lick his wounds in solitude.

By the third day, he noticed a craving that persisted no matter what he ate. Sky must have sensed his Hunger. When he returned to his room, there was a paper bag sitting on his desk. Inside was a blood bag, still cold from the lab coolers.

Bridge stared at it for a long time. He wanted to drink it, but when he closed his eyes, he saw the pale face and the empty gaze of the murdered girl. He saw the wet, glistening streaks on the pavement, felt the still-warm blood as it mingled with her silky brown hair.

He thought of her killer. He was certain he had never met the other vampire before, but all the same there was a horrible sense of familiarity. They were a shadow risen out of nightmares. His nightmares, and sometimes it seemed like his shadow. Sometimes, in the depths of his dreams, he was the one with blood on his lips, crouching over the corpse of a fresh kill.

The plastic satchel in hands was different, Bridge tried to tell himself. This blood came from someone who was in no danger, who had given it voluntarily.

But it was also the same.

He waited until midnight, slipped into the empty bathrooms and let it swirl down the drain.

—

No matter how long or well he led the team, at times Jack still felt like the outsider, the unwelcome newcomer. It came out in the small things.

For example, he would have to be blind not to notice the poisonous cloud surrounding Sky and Bridge. When one would enter a room, the other would make an excuse to leave. When one was brought up in conversation, the other would lapse into a conspicuous silence. In a rare, unguarded moment, Jack caught Sky staring after Bridge, a pained expression on his face.

This was his team. He had a right to know, and yet his questions to Sky, no matter how subtle, were carefully evaded. Bridge was equally difficult to corner, and even Syd was in on it. Under normal circumstances, he would have respected their secrecy. After all, those three — Sky, Syd and Bridge — had known each other long before he had ever heard of S.P.D. or the ranger Academy. They were entitled to have their secrets and even the occasional argument. But after several silent, tense missions and more than a few strained training sessions, Jack had had enough.

They had just confined a pair of intergalactic spaceship thieves and returned with the zords. Jack and Bridge were the last to leave the hangar, and for a moment they were alone. Jack was about to speak, but Bridge interrupted him.

“It’s a personal problem,” Bridge said, answering his unspoken question. “And trust me,” the green ranger added, “you don’t want to know.”

Jack wondered whether Bridge was using his powers, or whether his thoughts were just that transparent. In any case, Bridge had been expecting this conversation for quite some time.

“I believe you and I probably don’t,” Jack said bluntly, “but it stopped being a personal problem the moment you let it affect the team.”

“You’ve heard the rumors about me,” Bridge said after an awkward pause. It wasn’t a question, but nonetheless the green ranger seemed to expect an answer.

“Uh… I don’t pay much attention to gossip,” Jack said. Truth be told, Syd and Bridge probably accounted for half the rumors at Headquarters between them. With A-squad missing in action, B-squad was the highest ranked squad and everyone knew how much cadets loved to gossip about their superior officers. Come to think of it, there were probably more than a few shocking and equally untrue rumors about himself.

“But you have heard them,” Bridge pressed and Jack reluctantly nodded. This was an even more uncomfortable conversation than he expected.

“Did you think they were true, then? That I’m… easy?”

“No,” Jack answered, without a second thought. Bridge looked like a heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders. The green ranger had clearly expected him to answer otherwise. Did Bridge have so little confidence in him?

“Why not?” Bridge asked. He looked down at his gloved hands and frowned. “My powers…”

“My powers let me run through walls,” Jack reminded his teammate. “That doesn’t make me a coward.”

At that, the green ranger lapsed into a thoughtful silence.

“Bridge, what happened?”

“Sky took the rumors seriously. It was kind of my fault. I thought…” Bridge sighed. “I thought he cared. You were right. I shouldn’t have asked him out.”

Jack remembered, not too long ago, Bridge asking him for dating advice. Then Bridge and Sky were arguing and…

“Wait,” Jack said. What Bridge had just told him was so huge, so shocking, it made his head spin. “You and Sky? I mean, you, well… but I never knew Sky was into guys. Not that I have a problem with you being gay,” he hastened to add. “Or Sky. Or…”

“I’m flexible,” Bridge explained. “Sky is…” he searched for the right word. “Sky.”

“So you asked Sky out? And he said no.” Of course he said no. Fraternization with other cadets was a serious offense, doubly so within your own squad. Sky knew that, probably down to the precise line and section number in the handbook.

“No, I asked him out. But he didn’t say no. At least, not right away.” Bridge shifted on his feet and stared at a fixed point on the floor. “That happened later. Sky expected a one-night stand and I wanted… something else.”

Syd had once warned Jack — when he was new to the team and, in retrospect, maybe a bit overenthusiastic — that looking into Sky’s personal life was like tiptoeing through a minefield. As usual, the pink ranger had been right.

Jack groaned aloud. How could Bridge and Sky have done something so stupid?

“Bridge, what were you thinking?” He was angry at Bridge. Maybe angrier than he had ever been. It was his responsibility as a friend to protect them. But at the same time, it was his duty as red ranger to turn them in. How could the Bridge have put him in such a difficult position? “I warned you. I told you not to get caught!”

“I know.” Bridge hung his head. “I’m sorry. It should never have happened, but…”

“But it did, and now we have to deal with it,” Jack sighed. “I don’t know how to fix this. I’m not going to tell Cruger…”

Bridge began to thank him, but Jack held up a warning hand. “I’m not going to tell Cruger… yet. You need to work this out — and soon — or I won’t have a choice. You know what will happen then.”

“Either Sky or I will have to leave the team,” Bridge said glumly. All things being equal, Sky had the skills and experience to be the better ranger. They both knew that Bridge would be the one reassigned; possibly within Earth headquarters, but maybe planets or galaxies away.

It wasn’t supposed to happen this way.

Bridge was supposed to date someone fun and nice, someone more like himself. Someone who was not Sky. And most of all, whoever Bridge dated, it was supposed to be a secret. Every other cadet at Headquarters managed to keep their love life private: everyone, it seemed, except for Sky and Bridge.

He turned his attention back to Bridge, who looked so forlorn that Jack felt his anger falter.

“Look, you made a mistake,” Jack reasoned in softer tones. “We all do it sometimes — I’ve made plenty. You and Sky have been friends for a long time. It’ll all work out.”

Bridge seemed sincere when he nodded and promised to speak to Sky. As far as Jack was concerned, that was end of it. If Bridge had any doubts after that, he kept them to himself.

—

The nights seemed endless.

Bridge distracted himself by reading and inventing odd machines. He tried not to stare out the window. Every time he looked out to the moonlit grounds and the city beyond, his vampiric instincts would stir.

Sleep was no reprieve. He dreamed of blood, droplets that turned into rivers and lakes that begat oceans. Blood that dripped from the clouds as rain, followed by crimson snow that fluttered and swirled like ashes. He woke each night in a cold sweat, deep scratches etched into his arms from where he had tried to claw out of his own skin. The Hunger burned as if he had swallowed molten lead.

His mind often wandered back to the murdered woman. What kind of person was she, before her life was so suddenly severed? Did she have friends? Family? She must have had parents, maybe even brothers or sisters. Were there people who cared about her, or was she all alone?

It was easy enough to sneak out. Every cadet had done it at least once, and Sky had already shown him an easy way. Bridge traveled deep into the city, across the bridge that separated east Newtech from west. He stopped in front of a dark doorway. The neon sign above his head flickered and danced, casting green and yellow shapes onto the sidewalk.

Piggy had once mentioned this place as a possible base of operations for a suspect in a hacking case. It turned out that the criminal was also a shapeshifter and had been hiding at S.P.D. all along. With the criminal safely carded and the investigation officially over, there was no point visiting here… at least, until now.

The alien at the desk asked no questions and waved him toward the rows of aging, mismatched computers, while a shifty-looking customer hunched low over a keyboard and followed his every step with narrowed eyes.

Bridge sat in an empty row and set to work. The records he needed were sealed, but the security on the Newtech Police department networks was amateurish. Within thirty minutes, he had all the information he needed. And to think — it only required breaking enough laws to spend the next thirty years in prison.

There was a soft noise behind him, the sound of someone shifting their weight on aged linoleum. Bridge spun around.

—

“Easy,” Sky said, holding out a warning hand as Bridge half-rose from his seat. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

He had sensed when Bridge left S.P.D. and crept after him. It was easy enough to shadow the other ranger — he had turned Bridge, and there would always be a bond between them. The psychic connection was new and faint, but it was ever-present. Bridge still seemed unaware of it, and Sky used that to his advantage. He followed, never letting the other ranger out of his sight.

Just in case.

Because Bridge was hungry. Far hungrier than he should be, and Sky wanted to know why.

“You didn’t scare me,” Bridge replied, but Sky knew he was lying. The green ranger scowled. “Why are you following me?”

“I was worried.”

It was the truth, but Bridge huffed and turned back to the screen. “You thought I might have gone out to hunt.”

Sky didn’t try to deny it. Instead, he leaned closer and studied the screen. “You’re studying the victims?”

“I can’t keep thinking of them like that,” Bridge said. “I need to know who they were. What their lives were like. Who they were as people.”

Sky was once again struck by different they were. He had never given the personal lives of the victims a second thought. To him, they were just a case, pieces of a puzzle to be solved. That kind of thinking worked for him, but Bridge needed something more.

“Bridge…” Sky hesitated. “I didn’t mean what I said.”

“I know,” Bridge said, his eyes still fixed on the portraits of the victims. His voice revealed nothing, and Sky wished he could see his face. “You’ve been alone for a long time. You wanted to push me away.”

“It’s not just that. I assumed a lot of things about you,” Sky admitted. “I was wrong.”

Bridge swiveled to look at him. “We don’t know each other very well,” he said at last.

“No. But…”

“You don’t have to do this, you know.” Bridge interrupted. “I don’t need you to be nice to me out of guilt or some weird sense of responsibility.”

“That’s not it,” Sky tried to explain. “I do feel responsible for you, after what happened, but…”

But it was more than that, and he didn’t know why. Especially now that the temptation of Bridge as a human was gone. He had turned him and now he should leave him. It would be safer for them both, but somehow he just couldn’t.

“I’d like a chance to get to know you. The real you.” At first he thought Bridge would refuse, but then the green ranger nodded slowly.

“So what next?” Bridge asked.

“Well,” Sky said, with a slight smile, “I could use your help catching a killer.”

Bridge’s eyes lit up like he had won the planetary lottery. “Really?”

“Really. We can start tomorrow, if you want.”

“I think I’d like that,” Bridge said. There was a tinge of color across his cheeks that might have been a blush. In that moment, Bridge looked so kissable.

Sky crushed the impulse immediately. Their relationship was still too delicate, too brittle. It never hurt to be cautious and besides, maybe Syd was right. Who knew what sorts of unpredictable effects might arise from kissing an empath?


	5. Chapter 5

Once outside, Sky studied the other ranger. Bridge was so pale that his skin seemed translucent. A gust of winter wind pushed past, and Bridge shivered. As a vampire, Bridge should be almost immune to the cold. He should be strong, not frail.

"When was the last time you ate?" Sky demanded.

"Not since the night I was turned..."

"That was more than a week ago!" It was bad enough for Bridge to pointlessly risk his own life and health, but he had also put his teammates and friends in danger as well. How could Bridge have been so irresponsible?

"I know, but…" Bridge shifted away from him and paled even further. "I can't do it. I can't forget the way she looked when…"

Sky sighed. "Bridge, you didn't kill her. I know it's unnatural and disgusting, but you have to eat."

"And if I don't?"

"You'll die." Sky didn't try to sugar-coat the ugly fact. "It'll happen slowly. Every vampire is affected differently, but at first you'll become tired and anemic. You'll lose your vampire powers and become weaker. In the end, the Hunger will consume you. You've seen rabid animals: a starving vampire is ten times worse."

"No, there has to be another way," Bridge insisted. "A serum, a vaccine… something."

"There isn't. Believe me, I've tried everything. So has Kat. Animal blood, anti-anemia drugs, synthetic blood, you name it. If vampirism was all about being fast and strong and attractive, people would be lining up to be infected, but they're not. I tried to warn you before."

He tried to warn Bridge, during their first strange, jumbled conversation as vampires. He had tried — and failed — to make Bridge understand that vampirism was a burden, and a curse.

"You told me," Bridge replied slowly, "that dying might be easier. I guess…" he trailed off. "I guess I didn't understand."

"You're a vampire," Sky said, not without sympathy. "It's hard, but you have to accept it. It's who you are now."

—

Bridge spent the trip back to headquarters in pensive silence. What else had he missed, in the excitement over his new powers and his deepening relationship with Sky? What else had he overlooked?

They reached his room. Sky hesitated in the doorway, but Bridge gestured for him to enter. The blue ranger shifted uncomfortably in the desk chair and watched with unhappy eyes as Bridge paced.

"Bridge..."

Bridge spun to face him. "We can't stay here, can we? People will eventually realize we don't age, and become suspicious. They'll figure out that we're vampires."

"One day, we'll need to move," Sky said. Regret had long since faded into resignation. "Take on new identities. Start different lives, make different friends."

"But... you're supposed to be A-squad red ranger!" Bridge blurted out. "You've worked so hard for it." His voice dropped to a horrified whisper. "And your dad..."

"I joined S.P.D. to become A-squad red ranger," Sky admitted, "but becoming a vampire changes your priorities. It doesn't matter anymore."

A white-hot flash of anger swept through Bridge. This wasn't the Sky he knew. When Sky made up his mind to do something, he did it - no matter how difficult the task, or how long it took.

"It does matter!" Bridge tried, and failed, to imagine Sky as a civilian. For Sky, being a Power Ranger more than a job. It was a part of him. "You didn't ask to be a vampire. You shouldn't have to give up your dreams because of it. It's not fair."

"Life isn't fair," Sky countered. "If I wasn't a vampire, I would have been promoted a long time ago. I've learned to accept it, and so should you."

"Never," Bridge said, and meant it with all his heart. He wouldn't let Sky abandon his dreams. Not like this. "I don't understand how you can even say that."

Sky sighed. "Bridge, you've been a vampire for a week. I've spent years lying to everyone I ever cared about. You have no idea what that's like."

Maybe not, but Bridge understood what it was like to be alone. He clenched and unclenched his fist, despising the feel of worn leather against his skin. He understood what it was like be different, so different even those closest to him were afraid. "How long?"

"What?"

"How long?" Bridge repeated. "You've looked the same for as long as I can remember, so how long have you been a vampire?"

"Five years," Sky admitted.

Five years ago, they were both trainees, new cadets eager to prove themselves and earn a place on a squad. Back then, he had been intimidated by Sky, the motivated, driven cadet that he knew only by reputation. Sky had been part of the popular clique, a group of teens far distant from Bridge's own friends.

He already knew something — or someone — had broken Sky's ability to trust. Had Sky been turned by one of his friends? The idea was almost too horrible to contemplate. "Who..."

Sky cut him off. "I don't want to talk about him."

Him? Bridge's mind raced with unpleasant possibilities. "But that means there's another vampire here, at S.P.D.!"

"No, he was expelled," Sky explained. "Kat talked Cruger into letting me stay, on the condition that I never hurt anyone." His lips twisted into a bitter frown. "You can see how well that turned out."

"Sky, I don't blame you for what happened." True, he didn't want to be a vampire. It was horrible, life-changing, and maybe they had both tempted fate, but still an accident. He understood that, so why couldn't Sky?

"No, it was my fault," Sky said stubbornly. "I knew how dangerous the Hunger could be. I'm a vampire. I can't afford to make mistakes."

Bridge sensed the echo of Kat and Cruger in those words. How many times had they told Sky that very thing? He understood now why Sky pushed himself so hard, and strove for perfection in everything he did. He understood what made Sky so driven and so unforgiving. The blue ranger was living up to his father's reputation, but also much more.

Kat and Cruger were wrong, Bridge decided. Sky didn't need to be more careful, or more controlled. What he needed was to stop trying so hard to be perfect.

—

That night, Bridge refused to close his eyes, even for a minute. The killer haunted his dreams. They wanted him to watch as they stalked and killed victim and after victim, a macabre parade of pain and death. The crouched, predatory figure spoke in a language Bridge did not understand. But he felt it, down to his bones, a siren call to surrender to instinct and lust. They called him to join the hunt.

There had to be some connection, some pattern he was missing. These murders were not the work of a feral vampire, crazed with hunger for blood. And yet, as the lead detective on the case had noted, the murdered women only shared superficial traits. They were between 17 and 25 years old, with brown hair and brown eyes. They were taller than average, thin and attractive. The profile described thousands, if not millions, of woman in Newtech City. What drew the vampire to these four?

The victims lived in different areas of town. They shopped at different stores and ate at different restaurants. They had different social circles. One was a nurse and single mom to two young boys, now orphans; another an aspiring classical musician who moonlighted as a waitress. The third was a sophomore at Newtech University, recently returned from a year-long exchange program in Xybria. The most recent victim worked as an intern at a prestigious advertising agency.

Those women had been chosen, and if he could understand how and why, the answers would lead him to the killer. When Newtech city was safe once again, maybe he would feel like less of a monster. Maybe then he could sleep.

—

The general alarm went off before dawn.

A spaceship of unknown origins crashed in Newtech City park, and Cruger sent B-squad to investigate. The newcomers seemed friendly enough, although nobody understood their serpentine clicks and hisses. C-squad soon arrived with a pair of xeno-linguists and their team returned to headquarters - only to spend the next hour searching for a giant poisonous slime that had escaped from the biology labs.

It was going to be one of those days, Bridge decided. Perhaps the moon was full, or some invisible force was conspiring against them. Whatever the cause, every petty alien criminal in the Newtech metropolitan area seemed determined to cause trouble. Even the unranked cadet squads were dispatched to the city. And that all was before an infamous Triforian thief robbed the post-post-modern art museum.

Cruger was interrogating her better two-thirds now, while B-squad interviewed her older brother. Bridge, Z and Syd observed from behind one-way glass as Jack and Sky played good cop, bad cop. No matter how many years of confinement Sky threatened, or how lenient Jack promised to be, the man never changed his story.

He was an upstanding, law-abiding citizen. He knew nothing about the whereabouts of his sister; in fact, he hadn't heard from her in years. Of course he would cooperate with their investigation, but… did he need a lawyer? Were they going to charge him with a crime?

"He totally knows where she is," Syd said. The pink ranger had always been quick to judge people, and most of the time her instincts were right.

"He's trying to protect his sister," Z agreed.

"No, I believe him," Bridge said. The girls shot him incredulous looks. "He's innocent." The brother felt uncomfortable and nervous because he was being interrogated, not because he was guilty. This person was no criminal.

It was strange how two people with the same childhood grew up to be so different. At one point they must have been like any other pair of siblings. Was there a critical turning point in their lives, where one chose to live a productive life and the other went down a darker path? Or did they drift apart over time, so slowly it almost went unnoticed, until there was an impassable chasm between them?

That was when it struck him. Bridge wondered how he missed it, except that he was tired and there was an irritating buzzing at the back of his head, like a wasp trapped in his skull. The murdered women had nothing in common as adults, but they were all orphans. They had even lived at the same children's home before being adopted, but nobody thought to investigate because it happened so long ago. Fifteen or so years might be long time for a human, but to a vampire that could pass in a heartbeat.

He couldn't wait to tell Sky. Every minute before curfew seemed like an hour. At last, the lights dimmed and the night guards began their rounds. Bridge waited until the first patrol passed before sneaking across the hall.

"I was focusing on the wrong things," Bridge said, before Sky even managed a greeting. "I can't believe I missed it, but it wasn't only me, I think everyone must have missed it…"

Sky blinked. "Wait. What?"

"All of the murdered women were adopted from the same children's home. What if they met their killer there, too? We could go tonight —"

"No," Sky interrupted, even though Bridge knew he was itching to investigate. "The first thing we need to do is find you some blood. And then we can look into the orphanage."

"But we would still have time afterward, wouldn't we? This is important." The other vampire was out there right now, stalking their next victim. Every moment was precious. "Really," Bridge added, knowing that Sky's resolve was weakening. "I feel fine. I said I would eat and I will. Just… later."

—

The ancient stone wall was crumbling, etched away by years of neglect and the lacy winter skeletons of ivy. A tarnished metal plaque declared this building to be a historic structure, one of the oldest in Newtech City. During the last century it had variously served as an orphanage, a maternity home for pregnant teens, and a hospital for the poor. In more recent times, it had been a nonprofit children's home until the sponsoring organization went bankrupt.

Bridge rested his hand on the antique gate. So many frightened, lonely souls had passed through this gate — the very young and the very old, and everyone in between. So many hopes and dreams and fears, now faded to only a faint echo. This was a place for outcasts.

The chain securing the gate slithered loose when Sky tugged on it. Someone had cut the chain, and then replaced it to fool casual observers. The upper windows of the building beyond were illuminated from inside by soft light.

"I thought you said this place was abandoned," Sky said. The blue ranger drew his blaster.

"It was!"

They followed the worn stone path to the building, through the overgrown garden. At one point, a footpath curved away beneath the barren trees to a graveyard. A row of identical gravestones rose from the bone-white snow. Several were freshly exhumed.

"Grave robbers?"

Bridge shook his head. "These were orphans, and teen mothers. There wasn't anything worth stealing."

The main door creaked as Bridge pushed it open. An electric lamp softly illuminated what was once a grand lobby, complete with doric columns and a tarnished chandelier. Twin staircases wound their way to the upper level. With every step, broken glass crunched under their feet. The floor was littered with bottles from some long-abandoned party. Someone had even tried to start a fire, judging by the splintered furniture and dark smudges on the floor.

A sound sheared through the musty air. Before Bridge could shout a warning, a black-clad figure rappelled from the landing and slammed into Sky. Bridge saw the flash of a blade and reacted on instinct. He flung himself forward. His elbow clipped the chin of their attacker. The man stumbled back, stunned.

Bridge drew his own blaster. "Freeze! S.P.D.!"

A sharp female voice echoed from above. "What the hell is going on down there?"

A blonde teen descended the staircase, her hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. Like her associate, she was dressed is a tight-fitting black bodysuit. On closer inspection, Bridge realized that it was a custom-fitted armor suit, made of carbon nanotubes and synthetic spider silk. This woman was a professional, but of what sort?

"Who are you?" Bridge demanded. He kept his blaster trained on her partner. "What are you doing here?" He glanced at Sky. The other ranger had recovered and was now pointing his blaster at the girl.

"Take it easy." The girl held her hands up in surrender. "I'm Ally Samuels, vampire hunter. And I'm sure you're here for the same reason we are. Investigating the serial murder case, am I right?"

"Right." Sky slowly lowered his blaster. "I'm Sky Tate."

"Bridge Carson."

Ally studied them with wary hazel eyes. "Where are the others? S.P.D. always shows up with color coded teams of five and giant robots. I see only two of you… and no robots."

"No robots," Bridge agreed. "Just us two. It's kind of an independent investigation. We're trying to gather evidence before bringing in the big guns."

"So your Commander doesn't know about this?" She pursed her lips. "Interesting. To each their own, I suppose. Maybe we can help each other. I could use a new perspective on this case."

"How do we know we can trust you?" Sky asked.

"You can't." Ally granted the blue ranger an enigmatic smile. "But I can't trust you either, can I?"


	6. Chapter 6

Bridge and Sky followed Ally up the spiral staircase. As they climbed, Bridge eyed the two long, thin knives strapped across her back. A military-grade blaster rested at her hip, and Bridge would have bet his last credit that there were other weapons hidden out of sight in her boots, or perhaps her hair. Ally Samuels was dressed to kill.

She led them to a room that was once a dormitory. Metal bed frames supported thin, rotting mattresses. Haphazard piles of yellowing papers and battered boxes occupied every useable surface. Thick books, their bindings cracked and tattered, were stacked on the floor. Some looked so fragile, they might crumble at a breath. Ally picked up one that seemed to be better preserved than most.

"The director was old-fashioned. She insisted on keeping paper records, right up until the center closed. These books," and Ally tapped a page, "record every child who arrived. The previous victims are all listed in this book, along with their dates of adoption. Since none of them knew each other, I'm more interested in who knew them."

"As you can see," the vampire hunter continued, gesturing at the piles of records, "there's a lot of material to go through."

"What about the adults?" Sky asked. "There must have been nurses, handymen, janitors…"

"I already interviewed all the staff who worked here during that time. They're all just about what you'd expect — convincingly aging, full of old stories and regrets." Bridge sensed mild irritation, directed at past interviewees. "But no vampires."

Ally's silent shadow shifted on his feet, and suspicious blue eyes flicked between Sky and Bridge. The man did not introduce himself. This was the type of person who slept with one eye open and carried his blaster into the shower. Ex-mercenary, definitely. Maybe even ex-S.P.D.

"How can you be so sure?" Bridge asked.

"I'm never sure," Ally replied quietly. "Vampires are vile, devious creatures, but it's the little things that give them away. The way they move. Their agelessness. A certain, predatory way of looking at people. But those people were normal."

The vampire hunter turned away from them and gazing out the tarnished window, down to the small graveyard. "There are fifty-two graves down there. One of them is empty."

Bridge must have looked confused.

"A newly turned vampire remains deeply unconscious, for several hours or even days," Sky explained. "To the untrained eye, they appear dead."

Ally arched an eyebrow. "You've done your homework. Yes, thats right. Unfortunately, the headstone is too worn to make out a name. It must be at least fifty years old."

That was interesting, but far from irrefutable evidence. There were all sorts of valid, non-vampire related reasons for a grave to be empty. Maybe the person died under suspicious circumstances or suffered from a contagious disease. Maybe some long-lost relative came to claim the body. He was sure they were on the right track, but...

"There has to be something else," Bride said, frustrated at yet another dead end.

Ally gestured at the endless piles of documents. "Well, help yourself. There's plenty to go around." The vampire hunter sat cross-legged on the floor and flipped through the pages of yet another ledger. Sky sorted through through a box of moldy records, while Bridge shuffled through a free-standing pile of documents.

As he picked up yet another handwritten admissions record, something caught his eye, a faded piece of fabric poking out from beneath a lumpy pillow. Bridge set the pillow aside to reveal a doll, once-loved and now discarded.

Bridge picked her up, brushing away a layer of dust and grime. The doll wore a hand-sewn dress made of patchwork fabric that been repaired many times by many different hands. One button eye was missing, and someone had sewn a large black X in its place.

"Cindy," Bridge heard himself say. His vision went black and then he was falling, falling...

* * *

She was so small, and the orphanage door was so large. A cold, uncaring hand gripped her own in an unyielding vice. She had to run to avoid being yanked along. Sharp, adult voices exchanged hushed words above her head, and then another pair of unfamiliar hands led her away.

Her shoes were black and shiny, with a leather strap and pretty scalloped edges. Black and shiny like her long, flowing hair. Her hair made the older girls jealous, and one day they cut it with a kitchen knife. There were so many others. Children, lost and alone like herself. Children, shouting, teasing, tugging, pinching, saying cruel things in sing-song tones.

A sketchbook. Hands. Her hands, darting across the page. The whistle of a cane. Tears dripping down her nose, rolling to the floor. The doll, clutched against her chest.

"You're my only friend, Cindy," Bridge-but-not-Bridge sobbed. From far away, he heard Sky shouting at him, shaking him, but he was still adrift in another time and place.

There was a monster, but not like the stories. This monster didn't live in the closet or beneath her bed. It swooped down through the window like night itself. She couldn't run, couldn't hide, could only shake...

"Please," they begged, the Bridge and child consciousness as one. "Please don't."

The monster had a voice that whispered and rattled like window shutters, like the rolling waves of the ocean. "The world has no use for a forgotten child."

Indignant. "I'm not a child."

"Of course you are." Slender, sharp fingers caressed her uneven hair. "That's why I chose you."

Terror. A darkness deeper than night, blacker than the shadows themselves. He couldn't breathe. And then Bridge was clawing to escape as he gasped for air and his lungs filled with soil and rotting leaves.

* * *

"Bridge!"

"I'm okay," Bridge said. His voice shook, betraying the lie. He was lying on the floor, his fingers still wrapped tightly around the doll. Bridge flung it away as if it were poisonous.

"Are you hurt?" Sky helped him upright. "You had some sort of seizure."

"Psychic impression," Bridge explained. He concentrated on taking deep breaths and tried not to vomit. Everything seemed unbalanced, from the colors of the room to his own voice, like a movie that was somehow out of sync. "Never happened so strong before." Not with his gloves on, at least. Not since he had first gained control over his powers.

"Uh huh." Ally raised one eyebrow in disbelief. "You're psychic."

"Psychometric, actually." He too exhausted to sound convincing and besides, nobody could convince Ally of anything. The vampire hunter was too rigid, too paranoid to accept things on trust or faith. She reminded him of a certain ranger…

"Who's Cindy?" Sky asked, abruptly changing the topic.

"That's the doll's name. Cindy… Sunshine."

Ally scoffed. "You've got to be kidding me."

Bridge ignored her. "The doll belonged to a little girl." Cindy Sunshine… it was such a hopeful name, given by a child whose life had been so bleak. "She wouldn't have left Cindy behind. Something terrible happened to her. She was attacked here, in this room."

"Attacked?" Ally looked intrigued despite herself. "By who?"

"Or what?" Sky added grimly.

"I don't know. But… I think she died. " His stomach lurched again at the thought of suffocating darkness."There was a grave…"

"There are thousands of graves in this city," Ally interrupted, her tone harsh. "So if you're done channeling long-dead children, maybe you can tell us something useful. Like a name."

"I don't know," Bridge admitted. "It was something unusual."

"Figures." Ally scowled and muttered something Bridge didn't catch. She turned to Sky. "You'd better take him home. Before he suffers another psychotic breakdown."

"Psychometric," Bridge corrected again, "not psychotic." Not that Ally would understand the difference. Sky took his arm and pulled him to unsteady feet. Somehow, they made it down the stairs and out into the cold, sharp air.

His knees suddenly buckled, and Sky caught him before he fell. Sky asked him a question, but Bridge could only shake his head mutely. He felt himself being lifted as the world pixelated and faded to pinpoints of grey.

There were no words, no past and no future. There was only himself and Sky. Sky, who was concerned and scared and worried, all for him. Sky, the lone point of warmth and steady strength that remained true, even as the entire world spun around him: his north star.

* * *

A piercing beam of light flashed in his eyes. Bridge recoiled on instinct, closing his eyes tight against the intrusion.

"Oh, sorry." An unfamiliar — and most definitely female — voice said. "We weren't sure when you would regain consciousness."

The speaker's face came into focus. Glossy black hair framed a narrow face with high cheekbones and serious brown eyes. Olive skin hinted at South Asian, or perhaps Hispanic ancestry. The woman was wearing a white lab coat and, as he watched, tucked the flashlight into the front pocket. Bridge had never seen her before in his life.

What was this place? It couldn't be S.P.D. medical: he knew every doctor, nurse and orderly, if not by name, then by aura. He tried to lift his hand, only to realize that his wrist and ankles were secured with padded restraints. A thin tube, crimson with blood, traced its way from his left arm to an IV bag. His heart rate spiked.

The woman must have seen the panic in his eyes. "It's okay. I apologize for the restraints, but they were for your safety, as well as mine." She lowered her voice, even though there was no one else in the room. "I know your secret, and I'm not going to hurt you."

None of this made sense. He had been revealed as a vampire, so this must be a containment cell, or a high-security research facility. However, no research scientist would have taken the time to reassure him, much less apologize for the restraints. And since when did prison cells have framed landscapes and bedside vases with flowers?

"Who are you?" Bridge rasped.

"My name is Dr. Rheas, and you're currently a patient in my clinic. I've called Sky; he'll be here soon. He will explain everything."

Sky knew he was here. That meant that he was safe — at least, for now. Bridge let his head fall back against the pillow. "How long have I been here?"

"Around three days. You were delirious when Sky brought you here. Obviously, returning you to S.P.D. wasn't an option. Your Dr. Manx would have recognized the signs, and you would have been outed as a vampire immediately."

Which meant that Sky had saved both their lives by bringing him here, to the mysterious Dr. Rheas, who knew he was a vampire and yet was still unafraid. Even so, she made no move to untie him. Her wariness was justified, because Dr. Rheas was completely, absolutely, temptingly human. Why would she help a dangerous stranger — because all vampires were dangerous — brought to her in the night?

"Sky assists me with my research," Dr. Rheas said, and Bridge realized he had voiced the question out loud. "In exchange, I help him with his investigations and other issues, as they arise."

Bridge wasn't sure he liked being classified as one of Sky's "other issues". Nonetheless, he was grateful for her help and discretion. Dr. Rheas must have been very discreet indeed to keep his whereabouts hidden from S.P.D. By now, the entire force was probably out searching for him.

From somewhere in the distance, there came the buzz of a security door and then the approach of familiar footsteps. Sky rapped on the door and entered. The blue ranger looked tense and worried. In the three days Bridge had been away, new frown lines had etched themselves into his face.

"Bridge." Sky's relief was palpable and heartfelt. "I'm so glad you're okay." His shoulders straightened, as if an unseen burden had been lifted. Bridge knew then, with absolute certainty, that Sky had been afraid for his life. Sky was still afraid for him and, for some unknown reason, a tiny bit of him.

Only now, when Sky was in the room, did Dr. Rheas release his restraints. Bridge felt a brief and irrational pang of envy. Sky trusted Dr. Rheas, far more than he did Bridge or even Kat. The sentiment seemed to be reciprocated; Dr. Rheas trusted and even liked Sky, albeit in an oddly pragmatic way. She was certainly attractive enough; Bridge wondered if there was or had been something between them. Or if there could be, given other circumstances, other fates…

"Sit up slowly," Dr. Rheas warned. She removed the tubes and wires connecting him to the medical sensors. "I don't want you fainting and injuring yourself."

Bridge obeyed, even though he felt normal. In fact, he felt even better than before. His eyes drifted to the blood bag. Sky had gotten his way after all.

Dr. Rheas noticed his gaze and scowled. "By the way, my tests showed a serious protein deficiency, along with several essential nutrients. Nutrients that can only be acquired by vampires through blood. I understand your reluctance to feed, but you must find another way. Before this," she gestured at his hospital bed, "happens again."

"What happened had nothing to do with my… Hunger," Bridge objected. "It was my powers. I lost control. It's happened before."

"That must have been a long time ago," Sky said.

"It was back at the Academy." Back when he was just a new trainee, an outcast whose classmates and instructors thought was destined for a lifetime in a padded cell. Instead, he had learned control. He had learned to ignore the constant pull of emotions and memories, and the siren call of nearby minds. Those battles had been long since fought and won in the favor of sanity, or so he thought.

"Do you know what makes vampirism unique, Mr. Carson?" Dr. Rheas asked.

Bridge shook his head.

"Like any other disease, it invades the body. The difference is the extent. The vampirism virus infiltrates every organ, including the brain. It changes your digestive system, your muscles, even the rods and cones within your eyes. It even changes your DNA. What makes you think that your powers remained unaffected?"

It was a very good question, and Bridge didn't have an answer. If his powers were changing, that created all kinds of interesting — and potentially unfortunate — possibilities. Possibilities that he couldn't think about right now, because…

"How are we going to explain all of this?" While he was unconscious, their private secrets had somehow snowballed into a full-blown conspiracy. Perhaps  _because_  he was unconscious. "If I've been gone for days, everyone must be ballistic with worry."

"Cruger and Kat believe you walked off into the night, without any weapons or identification," Sky explained. Bridge suddenly realized that his morpher, blaster and uniform were nowhere to be seen. "There was some talk of kidnapping. This morning, they broadcast an all-news missing person bulletin out for you."

Bridge groaned. "Oh, no. What are we going to do?"

"That's where I come in," Dr. Rheas said. "I'll say that I found you passed out outside my clinic, all alone and with no identification. I thought you were drugged but was unwilling to leave you in your condition. I treated you as best I could, and had no idea who you were until I saw the news bulletin."

Bridge considered the story. It could work, even if the details were a bit unlikely. "Won't people wonder why you didn't involve the police earlier?"

"I was waiting for you to regain lucidity. After all, no crime was committed, and there seemed to be nothing to report."

"And the vampire connection?"

Dr. Rheas shot him a tight smile. "What vampire connection? I'm doing aging and dementia research. Any member of my clinic, as well as several upstanding members of the scientific community, can confirm that."

Dr. Rheas, Bridge noted, was one of those rare individuals who could tell a lie like she believed it herself. If not for his empathic powers, she might even have fooled him. He only hoped she was good enough to fool Cruger, who — quite literally — had a nose for deception.

"In any case, we should get this over with soon," Sky said. "The longer we wait, the more suspicious it will seem. Bridge, Are you up for this?"

Bridge nodded. "I'm ready. I feel much better."

Dr. Rheas and Sky exchanged looks as if to say, well, obviously.

"I'll let you know once I'm back at S.P.D," Sky said. With a parting nod to Bridge, the blue ranger turned sharply on his heel and strode out the door. That left him along again with Dr. Rheas.

"Thank you," Bridge said, in the silence that followed, "for helping me."

Dr. Rheas waved off his thanks. "I didn't do much. I just kept your body healthy and safe. You handled the rest."

Bridge asked a question that had been bothering him since he woke. "Does lying to the Commander bother you?"

"If you were a killer, Sky wouldn't have brought you here," Dr. Rheas said. "I trust him to do what's right."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Bridge ventured. "You're human, and we're vampires. Trusting us is like…" he searched for an appropriate analogy, "a fly trusting a spider. Or an antelope trusting a lion."

Dr. Rheas actually laughed. "An honest man. I can appreciate that. As a matter of fact, I do not believe biology determines destiny. You are not a spider or a lion. You are a sentient individual with the power to make your own choices."

"Then why study vampires? If it's all an issue of choice, why bother finding a cure?"

"You're oversimplifying the issue," Dr. Rheas said, with the tone of someone who had repeated the same thing a hundred times. "For example, some of my colleagues study the brains of psychopaths… people you might describe as natural-born killers. There are specific genes and inborn brain functions that are associated with violence. But you, as law enforcement, don't imprison people based on brain scans and genetic profiles, do you?"

"No," Bridge confirmed. "Only actions."

"Exactly. And not every person with a risk profile becomes a killer. Being a vampire is like possessing an elevated risk profile. You are much more likely to become a killer, but there are always influencing factors: childhood upbringing, social influences, even individual choice."

It sounded logical, and he desperately wanted to believe it. On the other hand, he had only met two vampires so far, and one of them was a vicious killer. Those odds hardly inspired optimism.

Bridge took a chance. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about the recent serial murders, would you?"

"Oh, you mean the Night Butcher case?" That was the first time Bridge had heard the nickname. "As I already told Sky, I haven't heard a thing."


End file.
